As the result of the recent spate of terrorist activities the operators and owners of many airlines and ocean liners have come under increased pressure, from both civil and governmental authorities, to insure that the airplanes and ocean liners will be more adequately protected from such terrorist attacks. It has, thus, become increasingly more important to devise a cost effective security system that will more effectively protect the passengers than has been heretofore possible. While present local security procedures, consisting of pre-screening passengers using metal detectors, appears to be moderately effective in discouraging passengers from carrying firearms aboard, to date, little has been done to prevent the loading of an explosive device, planted by a "no show", aboard an airplane, thereby allowing the device to be detonated in mid-air.
As used herein, the expression "baggage" shall include, but is not limited to, luggage, parcels and containers brought and checked in by a passenger, but does not include hand carried items.
A major problem now being addressed by the airlines lies in the detection of explosive material contained in baggage. While some attempts have been made toward solving this problem, all seem to have serious drawbacks that would preclude their use.
One possible solution would be to conduct a direct and/or indirect search of all checked baggage in order to identify and eliminate any baggage that contained explosive material. While this solution would be very effective in the detection and elimination of baggage containing explosive material, it is also likely to be quite costly in terms of man-hours required by airline personnel, and would probably lead to excessively long passenger waiting times. Both effects would be unacceptable to any airline.
However, a greater problem exists with the "no show" passenger who is intent on placing luggage bearing explosive aboard the aircraft as it is unlikely he will become a passenger and agree to commit suicide. A passenger may deliberately check his baggage through but never board, and thus foil present checking systems. A number of foreign airlines solve this problem by placing all checked baggage on the ramp, next to the aircraft and, as each passenger boards the aircraft, they are required to identify their baggage. Only then is the baggage loaded on the plane. This too, is an effective, but a costly and time consuming, procedure. It is just such a situation that the subject invention is designed to detect and eliminate in a cost effective and expeditious manner.